Jimena's own flamenco dancer, Lucía Álvarez Howard (La Piñona), chosen to compete at major festival

(Photo: (c) Alberto Bullrich)

Regular readers will know her, but newer ones may not (catch up here). Lucía Álvarez Howard, known as La Piñona in flamenco circles, has just been selected to compete in what purists consider the utmost competition of its genre: Festival Internacional de Cante de las Minas en La Unión, in Murcia. Lucía, 25, the youngest daughter of Katharine Howard and Álvaro Álvarez, was born in Algeciras and raised in Jimena. She has recently returned from a tour of Japan, and has danced in Kenya, Holland and other places outside Spain, and, of course, all over this country as well. The competition schedule has La Piñona dancing on Friday, August 12. The La Unión festival is well known for giving young singers dancers and instrumentalists that much needed push toward stardom, so let's wish our Lucia all the very best.